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Canucks-Ducks Preview
Vancouver Canucks at Anaheim Ducks
- The Ducks beat the Canucks in Vancouver 7-3 to start the season on Saturday. Vancouver has scored at least three goals in its last five games at Anaheim.
- This will be the first road game of the season for Vancouver after beginning the season with three straight home games. Vancouver's 51 road wins since the beginning of the 2010-11 season are the most in the NHL.
- Anaheim has had three days off, a luxury in 2012-13's compact NHL schedule. The Ducks have scored 12 goals in winning their first two games. The 12 goals are the most Anaheim has ever scored in its first two games of any season.
- Daniel Sedin leads the Canucks with four points and has scored at least one point in all three games.
- Newcomer Daniel Winnik leads the Ducks with four goals. This is Winnik's sixth season in the NHL and his career high for goals is 11 (2007-08 w/Phoenix in 79 games & 2010-11 w/Colorado in 80 games).
- Teemu Selanne scored four points (2 goals, 2 assists) in the season opener in Vancouver on Saturday. Selanne has scored at least a point in 20 of his last 23 games against the Canucks (35 points -- 16 goals, 19 assists).
By MATT BEARDMORE
(AP) -- The Anaheim Ducks have opened with two wins for the second time in club history.
Another big game by third-liners Daniel Winnik, Andrew Cogliano and Saku Koivu could help the club tie its best-ever start.
The Ducks open their home schedule Friday night against a Vancouver Canucks team looking to avenge last week's lopsided season-opening loss to Anaheim.
After finishing last in the Pacific Division and out of the playoffs last season, Anaheim (2-0-0) returned from the lockout with a 7-3 victory over Vancouver (1-1-1) on Saturday and a 5-4 win over Calgary on Monday.
The Ducks' only other 2-0-0 start came in 2006-07, when they opened with three wins en route to the club's lone Stanley Cup title.
Winnik, who split time between Colorado and San Jose in 2011-12, can expect a welcome reception at the Honda Center after becoming the first Duck to open a season with back-to-back multigoal games, scoring twice each time.
With Cogliano and Koivu both setting up two scores in each contest, their line has 14 points - three more than captain Ryan Getzlaf, Teemu Selanne, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan combined.
"I didn't expect the goal production (from the third line)," coach Bruce Boudreau, whose team hosts Nashville on Saturday, told the Ducks' official website. "But they're all very fast skaters. The first day I put them together, they seemed to have more jump than anybody else and they've kept that up.
"Can they keep that up? I don't know. I'd like to think they're a reliable line that can continue to score."
The Ducks didn't have a problem scoring on Saturday against Cory Schneider, chasing the Canucks' new No. 1 goaltender in the second period by netting five goals on 14 shots.
That wasn't the start Vancouver had it mind as it shops veteran Roberto Luongo, but Schneider's confidence seems to be back. After watching Luongo make 30 saves in Sunday's 3-2 shootout loss to Edmonton, Schneider turned aside 34 shots in regulation and four in the tiebreaker in Wednesday's 3-2 victory over the Flames.
"I had to show myself and my teammates that first game was a fluke, and I felt better as it went on," he said after Vancouver completed its season-opening homestand.
The Canucks have improved since failing in all three short-handed chances against Anaheim, killing seven of nine penalties.
The Ducks, meanwhile, have yielded two power-play goals in each game and failed in both chances with the extra skater on Monday.
If Selanne can record a power-play goal Friday, he'll move past Phil Esposito for third all-time in that category with 250. Selanne scored twice - once on the power play - and set up two goals on Saturday to become the first player since Gordie Howe in 1971 to record a four-point game at age 42.
Jonas Hiller, who made 26 saves in that victory, is 5-1-0 with a 2.90 goals-against average in six career home starts versus Vancouver. He was pulled, though, in the second period of the Canucks' last visit after yielding four goals in a 5-2 loss on Dec. 29, 2011.
Vancouver newcomer Zack Kassian will skate at Anaheim for the first time after scoring for the second straight game on Wednesday.
Alexander Edler, Dan Hamhuis and Daniel Sedin netted the Canucks' goals on Saturday.
These teams have alternated wins and losses in their last six in Anaheim and last 10 overall.
Updated January 24, 2013
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